A multi-year logistics agreement with Balco Australia puts more than 10,000 TEUs a year under DP World’s control. For UK fresh produce importers, the more interesting signal is what the operator is building closer to home.
DP World has expanded its logistics agreement with Balco Australia, one of the country’s largest exporters of premium forage and ruminant fibre products, in a multi-year deal covering the movement of more than 10,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) annually.
Under the agreement, the operator will provide dedicated road transport, equipment management and integrated logistics services, alongside investment in specialised transport assets and dedicated account management to support Balco’s export growth.
The framing from both parties was less about rate cards than about reliability. “It’s no longer a choice between cost and resilience,” said Nicolaj Noes, DP World’s executive vice president for Oceania. “Customers are looking for supply chains that are both efficient and reliable.” Noes argued that resilience has become a competitive advantage in itself: “Businesses that can consistently deliver despite disruption are better positioned to retain customers, access new markets and grow.”
Linda Xu, general manager of logistics and fulfilment at Balco Australia, said a “stable, efficient and resilient supply chain is fundamental to Balco’s ability to serve global customers and continue expanding across international markets”.
The wider play
The Balco renewal is a small line item against DP World’s global book, but it fits a consistent pattern: the operator is moving upstream from terminal handling into contracted, end-to-end agricultural freight — the sort of arrangement that locks in volume and, critically, schedule certainty for perishable and semi-perishable cargo.
That same logic is now visible in the UK. DP World handled more than 5 million TEU across its two British terminals in 2025 — roughly half the national market — with London Gateway alone posting 3 million TEU, a 52% year-on-year increase, and Southampton adding 2 million. A £1 billion expansion at London Gateway, adding two 400-metre all-electric berths, is underway alongside £170m for automated container handling and £60m for new cranes at Southampton. Cumulative UK investment now exceeds £5 billion.
For fresh produce specifically, the more relevant development is the Atlas service, launched from Agadir in November 2025, connecting Morocco’s growing regions directly to London Gateway and Antwerp on weekly, day-certain sailings. Backed by 1,250 new 40ft high-cube reefers, it is designed to shift up to 150,000 tonnes of tomatoes, blueberries, peppers and citrus a year off the road and onto short-sea routes — cutting associated emissions by up to 70%, according to the company.
Why UK importers should care
Britain imports roughly half its fresh produce, and around 4 million tonnes of that comes from non-EU markets. The Fresh Produce Consortium has argued repeatedly this year that this global network is not a vulnerability to be engineered away. “The solution isn’t as simple as ‘grow more here’,” FPC chief executive Nigel Jenney has said. “That global supply network is not a weakness. It is a critical part of our national food security strategy.”
The trade body’s more urgent concern is regulatory. FPC has warned that the proposed UK–EU SPS agreement could add more than £300 million in costs to the sector by extending EU-style controls to rest-of-world suppliers, lifting the number of consignments potentially facing physical inspection from around 40,000 a year to as many as 120,000 — against a current compliance rate of 99.5%. “This is not simplification,” Jenney said. “It is a transfer of burden.” He has been blunt about the consequence: “Delays are not theoretical. They threaten quality, availability and affordability on British shelves.”
That is the context in which Noes’s “cost or resilience” line stops being marketing. If border friction becomes the binding constraint on rest-of-world produce, contracted capacity with guaranteed arrival slots — the Balco model, applied to reefers — starts to look less like a premium service and more like the price of staying on shelf.
